Christian Bale is having a pretty swell 2013 as the star of two fairly prestigious films, Out of the Furnace and American Hustle, but he also has a pair of highly anticipated Terrence Malick films on the horizon—or so we thought. In late 2011 and throughout 2012, the newly prolific Malick began production on two new films that were to be shot back-to-back, one focusing on the music industry (previously titled Lawless)and another taking place in Hollywood (Knight of Cups). Bale is the star of the latter and also shot scenes for the music film, but now the actor has revealed that he’ll probably be cut out of the untitled picture. Hit the jump for more, including a status update for both films.

Speaking with Thompson on Hollywood, Bale revealed that he wasn’t able to fulfill his entire commitment to the untitled film:

“With Knight of Cups I was there the whole time. The other one I unfortunately wasn’t able to do everything I was meant to do, so I ended up doing like three, four days on that. Which in Terry’s world means you’re never going to see me in it.”

Malick has a knack for shooting a lot of footage with a lot of actors and then shaping his films in the editing room, which is how someone like Adrien Brody can show up to the premiere of The Thin Red Line thinking he’s the film’s lead only to discover that his role has been whittled down to a minor supporting character.

The filmmaker’s untitled film is supposedly led by Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara, with plenty of other actors filming scenes including Cate Blanchett and Haley Bennett. Knight of Cups, meanwhile, stars Bale, Blanchett, and Natalie Portman. Both films are apparently well into post-production, as Bale provided a reassuring status update:

“I’ve been doing [Knight of Cups post-production] for months. Terry is on fire. They’re both going to get finished. There’s no doubt about it. WHEN, I can’t tell you. But they’re both going to get finished. He’s just lit up. He’s possessed.”

With Tree of Life opening in 2011 and To the Wonder hitting theaters earlier this year, hopefully one of Malick’s two new films will be finished in time for a 2014 release.

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